“Listen to what is being preached today. Look at everyone around us. You've wondered why they suffer, why they seek happiness and never find it. If any man stopped and asked himself whether he's ever held a truly personal desire, he'd find the answer. He'd see that all his wishes, his efforts, his dreams, his ambitions are motivated by other men. He's not really struggling even for material wealth, but for the second-hander's delusion - prestige. A stamp of approval, not his own. He can find no joy in the struggle and no joy when he has succeeded. He can't say about a single thing: 'This is what I wanted because I wanted it, not because it made my neighbors gape at me'. Then he wonders why he's unhappy.” ― Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead

Today I woke up focused on Tolerance and Transparency, as if the lack of them might explain world problems.

Too many ideas already buzzing in my head at once, I recalled another meme I push, which is that "no belief system requiring itself to be forced onto others deserves credibility or respect". Trying to shorten this, I got:

Forced Beliefs Destroy Truth

I googled that phrase, and apparently, this post should become the first time that phrase has hit the internet. Strange, or... my one-ness with the universe (and/or Truth) isn't as profound right now as it feels. Anyway, coming back to the two Ts of Tolerance and Transparency, I add Truth.

My emphasis on Transparency is related to how best people can react to forceful beliefs systems... not by avoiding the debate or pure tolerance, but by being transparent about one's own beliefs. In fact, one should not only remain transparent, but occasionally skeptical of one's own beliefs.

To conservatives, the above must sound weak in character. After all, the goal is it "stay the course", as a matter of tradition, perhaps since the good ole' days always seem better than today. It's easier to expect populations to follow rules than it is to tolerate any dissent, or (at times) hints of dissent. Order/Security above Freedom/Tolerance.

I might be overestimating myself, but someday I think I'll write a good piece about Tolerance, Transparency, and "Truth", keeping those quotes in the title.

Someone more famous than I has probably expressed a thought I like, but I don't know her or his name.

I don't have the time to think my way to all of the conclusions life requires, so I sometimes accept unsupported beliefs. But, dammit, there are beliefs that are too ridiculous to accept, and religions have most of them.

Christians want me to accept god as my dad, i ask them for a paternity test and they blow stuff way out of proportion....... I don't have daddy issues but i think their god has kid issues; i just don't want nothing to do with that.

“Many religions now come before us with ingratiating smirks and outspread hands, like an unctuous merchant in a bazaar. They offer consolation and solidarity and uplift, competing as they do in a marketplace. But we have a right to remember how barbarically they behaved when they were strong and were making an offer that people could not refuse.” Christopher Hitchens